8 Times through
* 100 Free - 1:10
* 50 Kick - 1:10
* 50 hard pull - :50
* 50 easy pull - :50
100 Easy
Started off swimming behind Kent. Held 1:05 to 1:07 w/ the drag suit. A lane opened up so I took it. On the last one, I managed to stay a couple seconds ahead of Kent but he swam the whole 100 on 1:10 fly.

400 IM on 6:00 or 500 fr on 6:00... at least that's what it said on the sheet. That is until Dave (our sprinter) joked that we should do both timed. Roger took him seriously... thanks Dave!

500 Free timed (5:59)
100 Easy
400 IM timed (5:45)
The 500 free was kind of disappointing. I started off ok but the heat got to me. Should be able to hold the 1:10s. The 400 IM was ok considering that my goggles flipped inside out on the push-off. Was pretty tired at that point.

I have a kids meet this weekend. The only sprint I am doing is the 100 free but it will be interesting to see how I do.

300 free
5x100@1:45 fly w/fins as 25 rt arm/25 lt arm/25 scull/25 swim
4x(5x25)@:35 shooters w/fins, 1-5 on back 6-10 on belly 11-16 on side alt. 17-20 360 rotate
8x25@:45 streamline glide then EZ to wall (I tend to rotate to my right so on a few I came up on my side, I also float to I was on the surface by the first red line)
8x25@:45 breaststroke pull outs
50 EZ
3x100@1:45 free no breathing in or out of turns
4x(25 scull & 25kick) w/snorkle
6x50 from a dive 20 yard sprints
100 free EZ

I am a Asian male masters swimmer and have been single for several years. I love swimming and exercise. I live in the New Mexico Mountains.

So what's up with the title?

I've been on the dating websites and while there are a plethora of single women, NONE of them swim or understand swimming.

I am a swimmer. Period. If you don't mind getting up at the crack of dawn to swim and fall in bed at 8pm (tivo your favorite shows), love to travel to meets, enjoy culture (theater, movies, opera, music) and can converse on a wide range of subjects, we need to talk.

I am well educated, have reasonable financial security, good professional standing - (outside of swimming) and have demonstrated culinary skills. I have deep faith and a strong but flexible soul.

I have a black cat (he is totally cool) and live at 5000 feet on 2.5 acres. You can see the Milky Way on a dark night from my backyard. I train at 4000 feet at New Mexico State University. NMSU has a outdoor 50 meter pool and an indoor 25 yard pool. Today, January 11, I swam outside at 6 am and watched an amazing sunrise (backstrokers do rule but I would be happy to learn how to swim the other strokes).

I have a number of great friends in Las Cruces and some family.

I have pics (me, house, pool, cat, etc). PM me if this is of any interest.

My son is doing okay in the hospital still. He had another "minor" seizure tonight...a stiffening of the arms & legs & face, eyes wide staring, but no shaking...just an intense flexing action for less than a minute. The medications have been increased slightly earlier this morning, and we will continue watching over him here and praying for the best of course. His school teacher came by earlier today, and he was very happy to see her. She said all the kids miss him a lot, and want him back in school. Soon he'll be there, for now, this is the best place for him.

The high school team has some fast swimmers, and many more there for the fun of swimming with their friends. One thing both groups have in common is a lack of, shall we say "gumption." I had planned on a set of 10 x 200, but when I saw both slknight and jbs blog about this beauty last night, I knew it would be right.

The premise was simple - do it all, and if you choose not to swim then do pushups until the next sendoff. I saw many more kids than I would expect doing pushups. We decreased yardage so that making the interval was most important, and went from lanes down to three after the first go through. In the end, of the 48 kids on the team only 4 were eligible to get in on the $10 Subway giftcard that I offered to those who did it all. Scary!

I certainly didn't want to do those 200 flys (by the way, you Maine-er's rock), so I challenged my lane to start off with IM's. It is a really fun set, and the kids said "I feel like I want to puke - doesn't it hurt you this much, too?" Yup, but I kept pushing the pace during the set - held 2:25's on the frees and 2:40 on the IMs.

There was another kid that graduated last year from high school that swam at practice today, and he was a good help with starts. The team's coaches were there, and picked up the lanes that dropped out. They really appreciated our assistance (and the fact that I pounded out some yards from the kids). I guess that I had a little better luck than James, which I was happy about - the kids at least paid attention.

I'll get in another workout tomorrow (I need to log some 100 IM's) before working through the weekend - hope to sneak in a quick swim on Sunday after work if the pool is not too crowded during the family swim time.

* Took a dolly from the gym down the racquetball court. Sat on it in backstroke turn position and pushed hard off the wall. Was very fun, but would have been better with a plate for resistance.

Bikram, 90 minutes

Very hot the last 10 minutes, was melting. Some instructors turn the heat down some the toward the end. Not today's. Skipped the locust pose b/c of elbows and did 2 x cobra pose instead.

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I'm getting frustrated with my elbows. I'm going to try to get an appt with my ART doc to see if he can help more or if PT would speed the healing. It's my own fault I guess; I probably should have laid off all upper body exercises until the pain was gone. Although lat pulldowns don't seem to bother it too much ... it's holding DBs or kettle balls, pressing or lifting things off the ground that seem to re-aggravate them. I did buy an active wrap especially for elbows, and that seems to be a much better way to ice. And I did buy some Flameout to try.

I also ordered stretch cordz for my ever growing equipment bag. I've gotten a couple tips for things to do with it. Can't wait to add it to a speed workout!

Woke up to thunder and lightning. Radar confirmed lots of nasty stuff moving through. They probably started at 6:00 or 6:30 but I didn't want to chance it and have to drive 15 minutes there and 15 minutes back for nothing. Decided to go solo today so I started work early and snuck away at 1:00 for a couple hours. Not sure it was worth it. The pool was hot and I just wasn't 100% today. Guess I put more into it when my team is around. Wore a drag suit over my Nike jammer except for the 800 free.

SCY

400 Warm up
6 x 50 - :45
50 Easy

800 Free open turns every 200 (2:20, 2:25, 2:25, 2:27)
50 Easy
Just couldn't get going at all. Felt like I wasn't grabbing any water.

4 Times through
* 200 IM Kick - 5:00
* 6 x 50 - 1:00 Odds stroke, evens pull, #5 hard
50 Easy
5:00 was way too much time so I dropped it to 4:30 for #2 and #3. Dropped it to 4:00 for #4. Was consistently making 3:30 with moderate effort. First two iterations I did fly for the stroke. That felt pretty good. Was going :35 on the hard ones. Last two iterations I did breaststroke. Not too bad... did :38-:40 for the hard ones. Happy to be going this fast w/ a drag suit on. Kind of the highlight of the day.

800 Pull open turns every 200.
This was worse that the 800 free above. Sure, I had a drag suit on but usually I can pull a lot faster. Just out of gas I guess.

Did another one of Fort's today...my shoulders are toast after this.
WORKOUT #4: Lactate

Warm up:

400 choice

8 x 50 kick @ 1:00-1:15

4 x (4 x 25) @ :40
1 = drill
2 = build
3 = EZ, fast
4 = cruise

Lactate Production Set, Drop Down Superset:

4 x through:

25 AFAP @ :45-1:00
50 @ 100 pace @ 1:30-2:00
100 @ 200 pace

-- 5:00 rest between rounds, 200 EZ during rest period
-- intervals should provide a 1:2 ratio for rest
-- equipment optional
-- this set is designed to help you tolerate and clear lactic acid and promote speed efficiency at the 100/200 race pace

After finishing the first 1500 of the workout at the 26:05 mark (only took :30-:40 rest between my warm-up and the main set), I was feeling off. I thought, oh great, the ladder up is not going to be fun. On my 500s I was trying to hold :48 50s, which was my mile pace last summer, but it felt a lot harder than I wanted. I would love for :48 to be my 1-hour pace, so it was discouraging that it didn't feel relaxed.

By the time I was through my 150s, though, I was settling into a pretty good rhythm. The hard 200s didn't feel as bad... though my pace had dropped to :51 per 50 by then. I was at about 3325 yards at the 1-hour mark. Rather than just do a couple of easy 100s for a cool down, I decided to work my way back down the ladder (easier swimming this time). My stroke count on the gliding free laps was about 24 per 50. Felt pretty good, though slow.

Sorry to all you blog readers that are missing out on my swimming adventures for the past 4-5 days or so.

I've been in and out of the hospital with my son, Benjamin, who is an epileptic seizure patient. The seizures originally started when he was 2 years old, but were controlled with medication fairly quickly. After a couple years he was taken off the medication by his doctors to see if he was okay without it, and he was...for a while.

That turned out to be right about 1 year, and as of a week ago, his seizures have returned in full force again. We've spent last Thurs-Sunday in the hospital, back in Monday morning to the ER (and discharged), then back in again Monday late night (and admitted again) where he still is in the hospital. Seizures are still happening, and everything apparently is being done and/or being tested for.

We may end up eventually over at Seattle Children's Hospital, and if that is the case, I'll try to meet up with That Guy for a little relaxation practice time if possible.

I just hope that we can find a resolution for all of this soon. As much as I love swimming, I love my children more, and priorities come first.
I just hope I don't get too fat during this "off season" out of the pool.

Thank you to all who have already given me support. We'll be just fine in the end.

Decided to try one of Leslie's High Intensity workouts. Picked the kick one from this week. Changed some of it since my pool is not deep enough for the squat jumps or VK. Also, due to time considerations, shortened some of the sets. And had to add rest to some!

Speed/Strength Set:4 x 25 backstroke kick holding 5# hand weight overhead with one arm while other arm is at side, no fins @ :40 RI - 2 left arm, 2 right arm,- was supposed to do 6, 4 was all I had! Times were around :3050 EZ

4 x 50 kick, high flutter kick, no fins, feet at least 6-9 inches out of water @ 1:30-- either with board or in streamline position with snorkel- Did this with snorkel in streamline. Times around :5550 EZ

4 x 50 kick with fins @ 1:30-- 25 AFAP + 25 easy- on back in streamline, 4-6 SDK off walls- not sure of time at 25, total time around 40-45100 EZ

Got about 300 yards into my quality aerobic workout and aborted. I was too gassed.

300 easy

Total: 1950

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Checked my flog and I've worked out 8 days in a row, including 4 high intensity practices. I should have taken a day off. Even my recovery leggings and a good night's sleep did not do the trick. But I did so little today in EN1 that maybe this effectively will constitute a day off. Hoping to do gym + yoga tomorrow.

Read about an interesting drill the elite MAC sprinters do. Instead of a drag race from mid-pool, they do 2 summersaults and then sprint to the wall with no breath. I may give that a try! I've also ordered a diving brick. I'm going to use it for some foot speed drills. My equipment bag will be extra heavy now.

I swam a solo workout during lc lap swim this morning. There was a small wisp of pink in the sky as I drove over to the pool, but otherwise it was a grey morning—clouds completely covered the sky, and it misted on and off during my swim. I kept hoping for a proper rainstorm—I love swimming in the rain—but mist is all I got. Here’s what I did:

400 kick (mostly FR, some BR) w/ snorkel [I figured out that I can kick without discomfort if I use my snorkel and just hold my arms out in front, in “superman” position, rather than trying to streamline.]

400 warmdown + play

Afterwards I did a long stretching session. It felt good.

There were two articles in the local paper about the gulf today. A dolphin got into distress a few miles up the coast from me, was helped out by folks on the beach, then insisted on swimming back to its pod before a rescue team could arrive. And an area diver discovered a new species of shrimp that looks like a red twig. Cool stuff going on out in the water, always!